Hiring good employees is a piece of cake, right? Now, imagine
having to hire highly technical software developers. The idea can be
daunting, especially when it comes to starting from scratch. While you
have more control over the process, there are some inherent challenges
of an in-house developer or development team. But first, what is
in-house development?
What Is in-House Development?
In-house development means that you hire developers as employees and
provide the necessary training and support. Your in-house team is
dedicated to your software development requirements and are fully
committed to your projects. A business that already has programmers on
their payroll is more likely to add new projects and resources to that
team. The big decision comes in when you have a brand new need for
custom software development. Then, the question becomes a choice between
outsourcing and hiring an in-house team.
Learn More: In-House versus Outsourcing
Key Challenges of In-House Software Development
If you decide to create your custom software with in-house
developers, there are some challenges you’ll want to be aware of ahead
of time. These include:
- Control: It seems like you’d have more control with
an in-house team. However, control is more than a matter of assigning
duties and deliverables. It becomes a management exercise with an
in-house team in terms of accountability.
- Intellectual Property: The business is in a good
position here, assuming employees have the right non-compete agreements
in place. Without those, there is a risk that an employee can separate
from the company and end up being a competitor.
- Hidden Costs: With an employee, there is a cost
burden that includes benefits, withholdings, etc. However, with software
development, you’ll also have costs of software, hardware, and
training. And these compound with employee turnover.
- Quality Control: In our view, this is one of the
biggest issues. Good quality control is a very technical process that
non-programmers often don’t understand enough to implement. That means
you’ll depend entirely on your development team to report back to you
that things are working as expected.
- Team Chemistry: With an in-house development team,
you’re introducing a new unit into your company. It’s important to
understand how that will affect your existing team, from office space to
culture.
- Scalability: As your software needs grow, you’ll
see all of the above challenges balloon with that growth, from
technology and training to hiring and re-hiring to control over the
software itself.
Making the Decision
As you consider which way to go, in-house versus outsourced, you’ll want to run a Total Cost of Ownership
analysis to help understand the short and long-term costs of your
project. But you’ll also want to consider the issues above and how it’ll
affect your business’s bottom line.
Contact us today to review your requirements. We’ll help you understand what you might be looking at for your project.